From the Dead, Arisen Again
by booboohoneychild
Summary: The unthinkable happens in Makai...and no it's not to Yusuke. But then there's a mysterious demon who won't let Botan do her job and take this soul to Spirit World! Who is he? And what does he want with Hiei? HieiXOC in later chapters
1. Chapter 1

**From the Dead, Arisen Again**

Summary

After a careless mistake in the Makai, Hiei dies. As he lay drowning in his own blood, berating himself for that stupid mistake, a stranger comes into view, a man, full demon in human guise. Hiei's last sight is this man kneeling down beside him. Then he slips into nothingness…… Who is this man? And what does he have to do with a dead Hiei? Read to find out!

Chapter One

_You're stupid. So stupid! I would've expected that mistake out of Kuwabara. Urameshi was right. What he said the first time we fought in the ware house. Now I reap what I sow. I'm dying, not even with dignity. _

This was all that was going through Hiei's mind as he lay on his back staring vacantly at the Nigenkai sky, blood pooling around him and soaking his clothes. His own blood, gushing from a bellycut that sliced him open from neck to navel. He was surprised his own entrails weren't protruding from the gaping hole in his middle. It was a careless mistake. He was too proud. The scene played before him, over and over.

He was fighting a B-class demon, one that was fifteen feet tall and had a spiked tail that could shorten and lengthen at will. Hiei, now a A-class, almost S, had thought for sure he could beat this thing. But this demon was fast, Hiei thought he could dodge the tail. He was yacking the whole time during the fight, aggravating his opponent even more. In a split second Hiei had gone from charging to victory, to lying in his own blood.

_So STUPID!!! How could I have done that? Why didn't I just kill it and be done with it._ He sighed, breathing was becoming difficult._ Oh well, I had to die sometime, I'm just sorry it's now. I never got to beat Yusuke. Maybe when he dies I'll face him again. _

_Oh look, there's Botan. She never spilled my secret about being Yukina's brother. I'll let her know she can tell her. Yukina, I'm sorry I won't be there to watch over you anymore. Goodbye._

This was his last thought. Hiei's last breath escaped from his lips. All his eyes closed, never to be opened again. Botan had tears in her eyes as she leaned over to draw the ghost from it's still warm shell. She reached down and took hold of some of Hiei's cloak and pulled.

The only thing that came up was Hiei's real body along with the cloak. Botan quickly let go and stared at him. His ghost hadn't popped out like it should. He should be there, floating next to her, telling her everything he wanted her to say to his friends after she took him. Not that you could get him to admit he thought of them as friends, but nevertheless. This wasn't right.

"You don't need to take him yet," came a deep, masculine voice.

Botan flinched in surprise and searched for a body for that voice to come from. Her eyes landed on a tall, slim black haired man with vibrant green eyes and spell markings everywhere. Power radiated from him and he merely stood there, gazing at Hiei's dead body and Botan with her oar and kimono.

In an instant he was in front of Botan, hand over her mouth, crushing her against him. A distant look passed over Botan's eyes and she slumped over, unconscious. With a smirk of victory, the strange man picked up Hiei's bloody body and vanished right there.

Botan lay on the ground, peacefully sleeping in the crimson blades of grass.


	2. Chapter 2

**From the Dead, Arisen Again**

Chapter Two

A small, petite girl with long white hair in a braided plait opened the large steel door with ease. She wore an outfit similar to Genkai's except the cloth was white and the trim was black, she had a black belt around her middle and soft black slippers that made no sound against the gray marble floors of the dark palace.

The girl crept into the room, a vulnerable, almost hesitant way in her matter. Her eyes were kept downcast, looking at the floor. She walked over to the grand table beside the large bed and set down the items she was carrying. Salve, ointment and fresh bandages. She turned to the bed and meekly turned back the covers, exposing more than just the head of the occupant.

His spikey black hair with the starburst of white was going lank, coming out of its shape and falling onto his face in long, thick strands. His skin was pale, nearly as white as the girls uniform. A long, horrible looking wound was stitched up and awaiting cleaning and fresh bandages. It was too gruesome to heal magically, so it had to be done slowly, if it was to heal right and never trouble the person. The girl undid the bandages, not looking at them, but just past them, as if she didn't need to see her fingers. She carefully lifted the injured person's body and undid the crusty, stained bandages. It was tricky. This young man was slit from neck to navel. He was dead, but Master Kikiro had somehow brought him back to life. She didn't know anything about this stranger, all she knew was his name, Hiei.

She finished taking off the bandages and took water from the faucet and took a rag from the bedside table. She soaked the rag in the cold, clean water and rung it out. Then she washed the crusted blood and yellowish ooze from in and around the wound. She had to wash the rag out five times, and even get new water. Then she took the salve and ointment from the table and gently doctored Hiei's wound. She then carefully re-wrapped the wound with the clean bandages and covered her patient up once more before gathering the crimson length of cloth in her arms and walking quickly away.

The girl went through this process about a week until Master Kikiro came into Hiei's room while she was dressing him.

"There's no need to bandage him. Today is the day," he told her. Master Kikiro was a tall, strong man with long black hair and green eyes and spell tattoo's all over his body.

The girl in white and black bowed and put the fresh bandages in the table and stood back, eyes averted to the ground. Master Kirkiro walked to the bedside and examined the half-alive body before him, smirking some. He admired the girl's handiwork and praised her. She flushed red and clasped her hands together.

"You've done a fine job, Saya," Kikiro said, a slight mock to his tone that the young girl didn't catch, "Come stand beside me."

Obediently Saya stood beside her master and looked at the softly breathing Hiei before them.

"He is half-alive." Kikiro told her, "His ghost, his soul, is there, he just needs a jump start of energy through direct contact," He glanced down at Saya, "Through the lips."

Saya stood frozen for a second then her shocked gaze flew to Kikiro, whose laughing eyes stared at her coldy.

"Yes," he said, "You will do it. Now kiss him."

Saya trembled for a moment, but slowly she leaned over and hesitantly pressed her lips to the surprisingly warm ones of the unconscious Hiei. She started channeling some of her energy through her mouth into his down through his body.

"Deeper, Saya!" Kikiro demanded angrily.

Saya hesitated before pressing harder with her lips, bringing a slender, pale hand to cradle Hiei's cheek. She put more of her energy flowing through the raw connection between her and this stranger. Hiei's finger twitched.

"More! More or you'll be thrown to the demons!!" Kikiro roared.

Saya whimpered slightly, her eyes squeezing shut in fright before daring to explore Hiei's mouth with her tongue, kissing him passionately. Her energy was pouring out into him, she paid no mind to this though, she had plenty of energy. The wound on Hiei's body started to close on its own, glowing slightly. The thread of the stitches disintegrated and soon all that was left was a soft pink line were the wound had been.

Kikiro started to laugh, an evil, bone-chilling laugh that made Saya's spine tingle. A slender hand suddenly came to rest gently on the back of her head, another on her cheek. It couldn't be Master Kikiro, it had to be…… Hiei!

Saya's eyes flew open and all of a sudden Hiei's hand on the back of her head gripped her hair in a vicegrip, the one on her cheek squeezed her face so tightly she broke the kiss to cry out in pain. Then she was thrown over the side of the bed and slammed into the wall, she bit back the whimper that wanted to force its way past her lips.

Hiei's eyes were open and calm, the vibrant crimson hues the same they always had been. He sat up and looked at Saya, who lay huddled against the wall, looking at the ground. Then he looked at Kikiro, who gave a little bow.

"Hiei, welcome back to the living," he said.

The small fire demon's expression turned from a bit irritated to confused. "Back?"

The taller man pulled up and chair and sat back, "Yes, back. You had a little accident on a mission I sent you on. It was all I could do to keep your soul from Koenma. It wasn't time for you to go yet."

Hiei glared at Kikiro. "What do you mean a mission you sent me on? I never worked for you."

Kikiro put on a sad face. "Memory loss is understandable." He leaned forward, gazing intently into Hiei's eyes. "You have worked for me ever since you were little. I am your master, Master Kikiro."

Hiei's eyes went blank for a second. Then they returned to normal. "Yes, Master Kikiro, I remember."

Kikiro leaned back, "Tell me, do you know a boy by the name of Yusuke Urameshi."

Hiei leaned back on the pillow. He shook his head. "No,"

"Youko Kurama?"

"The dead Nine Tailed Fox Thief."

"Kuzuma Kuwabara?"

"No."

"Shuichi Minamino?"

"No. Who are these people? Most of them sound like nigen names."

Kikiro smirked. His plan had worked. "Most of them are. Yusuke Urameshi is Koenma's new lackey. The Spirit Detective. He's pretty good. Kuwabara and Minamino are also on the team, as they have extraordinary Spirit Awareness. They are the bane of my kinds of people." He leaned forward again. "How do you feel?"

Hiei flexed his right arm, the Dragon arm, and opened his Jagan. "I feel fine, great even."

"Good. Saya!" Kikiro barked.

The girl had been trying to sneak out of the room to do her other duties. She froze and meekly walked over to Kikiro, eyes still averted.

"Hiei, this is Saya. I'm sorry we had to use her for the revival, but I wasn't going to kiss you." He laughed a bit. "Saya, you will do everything in your power to make sure Hiei is well satisfied in _every_ way. Do you understand?"

Saya nodded mutely.

"You may go."

She practically ran out of the room.

Kikiro turned back to Hiei, a satisfied grin on his face. He saw Hiei's eyes still staring at the spot where Saya left the room. He held back a chuckle.

"Don't mind her, she's just the servant girl. She's weak and easily walked on." He got up. "I'll leave you to rest. If you need anything, ring the bell beside you and Saya will take care of it. Are you hungry, thirsty, anything?"

Hiei nodded, "Both,"

"I'll have Saya bring you our special. Goodbye Hiei, rest well, for tomorrow I want to test your abilities." He walked out of the room.

Hiei was left to his own thoughts as he waited for his food. He didn't know really who this "Master Kikiro" character was, or where this place was, for the matter, but he was sure he hadn't died, or he ever worked for this guy. But, Hiei didn't remember anything, only blackness. All his memories were gone, except for his knowing of how he got his Jagan eye, and what the Black Dragon can do, plus what it requires. He knew of his fighting abilities, how hard he could push himself and other training techniques, but all his memories of what happened to him were gone. He was puzzled, this was strange. Those names Kikiro had asked him if he knew were vaguely familiar, as if he knew them from a long time ago.

Hiei rubbed his face with his hands, this was getting confusing.

A soft knock at the door echoed through the room, and it opened before Hiei could give permission to enter. The energy wavelengths changed slightly as Saya entered the room. She closed the door behind her and walked a bit more confidently to Hiei's bedside, as if she wasn't scared anymore. Her eyes were still averted though. She walked right up to Hiei and held out the tray. It had food on it and water to drink. He looked at it, missing Saya's bow of goodbye. She turned to walk away. Hiei took a bite of his food.

"Saya, wait."

The girl obediently stopped, not turning around.

Hiei took another bite, this stuff was good! "I want to talk to you."

He watched her slowly turnaround and walk back to his bedside. "Yes?" she asked softly.

"Do you know where this place is?" he asked. He took a drink of water.

She shook her head.

Hiei stared at her for a minute. She wasn't much of a talker. Well, neither was he, so he didn't really mind. "Do you know who Kikiro is, besides the owner of this place?"

Saya gulped. "He is a high S-class demon. I would like to say his plans are evil, but I can't. I would also like to say that Master Kikiro is mean and will use you and me until we can't satisfy him anymore then kill us, but I can't. I would really like to say those things, but I can't."

Hiei hid a smirk. She was crafty, telling him all about Kikiro in that inconspicuous way. He look at her for a moment, wondering why she always kept her eyes downcast. He wanted a good look at her face. Silently he reached down and put two fingertips to the bottom of her chin. She flinched visibly, remembering the last time Hiei had touched her face. But she let him gently tip her face up for him to see.

Hiei saw bruises the size of his fingertips along her cheekbone, where he had roughly thrown her aside when he awakened. Her skin was pale, nearly ice colored. A lock of her white hair fell across one eye, obscuring it from view. Then he looked into her eyes. They were a light blue with a starburst of something thick, pearly and white over where her pupil should be. Then Hiei noticed that she always looked just past him, not really focusing on him. He passed a hand in front of her eyes. She didn't move, she didn't even blink. Hiei brushed back the lock of hair from her other eye, it was the same way.

"You're blind….."


	3. Chapter 3

**From The Dead, Arisen Again**

Chapter Three

Kurama walked into Koenma's office, seeing Yusuke and Kuwabara already there. Yusuke was sprawled lazily along the length of the couch that was in there, Kuwabara was leaning against the arm of the couch. Both looked bored and a little annoyed. Kurama spared a glance at Koenma, he looked troubled, busily sucking on his pacifier with his hands clasped together. Botan stood beside him, her eyes shining with not yet spilled tears.

"Koenma," Kurama started hesitantly.

"Take a seat Kurama, I have something to tell you all." The toddler said.

Kurama made Yusuke sit up and he and Kuwabara took a seat on the couch. Koenma took a deep breath.

"Hiei has been killed."

The silence was deafening. The three boys just stared at Koenma. Then Yusuke bust out laughing.

"Haha! Nice trick Koenma, but Hiei's not the kind to get himself killed. What's the real reason you want us here?"

"Uuh, Urameshi?" Kuwabara said, still staring at Koenma, "I don't think he's lying."

"No, he telling the truth," Kurama said calmly, "Hiei is gone, I can't sense his energy, nor his spirit." He turned to Botan, "Did you take him this morning?"

Botan sniffed, a tear rolling down her cheek.

Koenma shuffled some papers. "No, she didn't. That's the weird thing. He died, my report says he died, the spot where we found his blood is his. There was too much lost to save him. If we was in his demon form he would have lived, but his human form still had some human weakness in it."

"Whoa-whoa-whoa." Yusuke said, standing up and placing his hands on Koenma's desk. "You're really serious, he's really dead."

"Yes, Yusuke. Hiei is dead. But his spirit never came to Reikai. Something intercepted it. His body is missing, too. I can't figure it out. The obvious place is Makai, but we can't be too sure."

"Now you want us to go find him?" Kuwabara asked.

"Well, duh, stupid. Of course we're going to find Hiei. He's a member of our team. No matter how antisocial, mean, or threatening he is. Well, when do you want us to start?"

Koenma brought a piece of paper to the front of his stack. "Go about your daily lives, but keep an eye out for anything that might possibly connected with Hiei's death and disappearance."

The three boys nodded and walked out the door.

Back at Yusuke's house, they sat in the living room, talking with Keiko and Shizuru. Kurama would go back to Genkai's temple with Yusuke later and break the news to Yukina and their old master.

Keiko could hardly believe what had happened.

"Wow, how could this be? Hiei was strong. He didn't look like the kind of person to get killed."

"I know," Yusuke said, looking agitatedly at the floor. "That's the weird part. We need to find out who killed him, why, and where his soul and body is."

"Well, why don't we go and check out the place where he died." Kurama suggested.

In the Forest near the Park

Yusuke bent over the brownish red spot of grass. The blood was caked and dry, but a heavy metallic scent still hung in the air. He ran his fingers gently over the bloody grass, some little flakes falling off the blades onto the blood-soaked soil.

"Man there's a lot of blood," Kuwabara observed.

"Ya noticed that, didn't ya?" Yusuke said sarcastically.

Kurama stood a ways off, staring intently at the spot. It was three feet in diameter, with little spots all around it. Something behind a bush caught the kitsune's eyes. He walked over to the bush and examined a purple-ish spot on a cluster of leaves. He sniffed it. Demon blood! He called the other two boys over to the spot and let them examine the bush.

"What kind of demon is it?" Yusuke asked.

"A fairly strong one. A basic B-class. I guess this is Hiei's killer." Kurama replied, a little dumbfounded.

"No. This can't be the one. Hiei was almost S class, he was a high A. There's NO way a normal, B-class demon could kill Hiei." Yusuke countered.

"Remember the shrimp was really overconfident." Kuwabara put in, "He could have messed up. You do all the time Urameshi."

Kuwabara was flying through the air and hit a tree trunk two seconds after the words left his mouth. Yusuke had a vein popping in his forehead and his eye was twitching. Kurama held back a laugh.

They went to check on Kuwabara, he was out cold. Yusuke sighed. "Let's take him back to his place and go see Genkai and Yukina."


	4. Chapter 4

**From The Dead, Arisen Again**

Chapter Four

It was two days since Hiei had been revived. He was already out in the training room, hacking away at the practice dummy. This wood and straw dummy had been bewitched alive, and depending on how much energy was put in it, it would be a more dangerous opponent. Kikiro observed Hiei's training often. Sitting in an overstuffed chair, watching his captive fight the dummy with withheld interest. Saya would often be seen bringing in stuff for them to drink and eat. She would repair the dummy, renew the spells, and clean off the many weapons that Kikiro had stored there.

Hiei watched Saya a lot, wondering why she was here. It was normal for the higher level demons to command lower class demons into servitude, so he wasn't interested in this. He was pretty sure she was very strong, just didn't show it. She kept it locked away, hidden deep inside herself so not to give Kikiro a reason to kill her. But why did she hold on to life like she did? Why was she so skittish all the time? She was smart, Hiei found that out first. But with her smarts, she could escape from Kikiro and never look back. There had to be some collateral the Kikiro was keeping. Some form of blackmail, treachery. That had to be it.

Hiei sliced and diced the dummy Saya had repaired five times in two days. It lay in pieces of the floor, wooden fingers still twitching with leftover energy. As if on cue, Saya slipped into the room, padded silently over to the pieces of the dummy, gathered the larger bit in her arms and walked to her own worktable. She fitted the large pieces together, roughly mapping out the shape of the body. Hiei walked over to where she stood.

"Make it a little more challenging, that was too easy." He said. He walked away, never looking back. Instead of going out the door, he sat leaning against the wall, unwrapping his Dragon arm. He occasionally watched Saya working, fitting the pieces together, her whole body and the pieces on the table glowing a pale blue-ish color. The little pieces still on the floor rose up and floated over to her when she reached out and hand, never taking her eyes of the dummy in front of her.

She couldn't see the dummy of course, she was blind. Her hands floated over everything, feeling all the parts, her fingers deftly working. She obviously had a long time to practice.

Finally the dummy was repaired. Now it had to be infused with energy. Saya lifted the dummy off the table with her energy and stood it up in front of her. She held up one hand and closed her eyes. The glow around her faded and pulsed through her arm to the dummy. It started jiggling and shaking. It's arms and legs flailed out, going faster and faster until…… it stopped. The dummy hung there, limp, the blue glow pulsating around it like a heartbeat. Saya let her hand down, the glow dissapeared and dummy stood sagging on the floor. The small girl bowed once in Hiei's direction then vanished through a servants door in the wall.

Hiei smirked, watching her go. She had put a considerable amount of energy and skill into this dummy. It would be interesting to fight it now. He picked up his katana, hand floating ready over the hilt in a draw position. He slid his right foot forward, his left back, leaning into his right shoulder in a swordsman's position. Then he said the magic word.

"Come."

The dummy flew at him, picking up a double-bladed lance and twirling it around it's head. Hiei parried with the dummy for a few seconds then jumped and flipped over it's head, sword ready the slice down its back. The dummy ducked and pitched forward, rolling once before leaping into a twist/flip and launching itself back at Hiei. The fire apparition nearly laughed. Saya had definitely put her heart and soul into this dummy, it was a worthy opponent, for a piece of wood and straw, that is.

Saya watched Hiei through the inch the door was opened. He was so wrapped up in this exercise he didn't notice she was there, 'watching' him with a hopeful look on her face. With a slight smile, she closed the door again and padded away into the dank hallway.

Kikiro strided silently through the door to the training area and watched Hiei fight the dummy. He had a look of gloating on his face, a withheld triumph only he knew about. His green eyes moved with Hiei greedily, watching his captured minion blossom in this new life. Kikiro knew that someday his memories would come back, but by then, he would have what he wanted, and Hiei would really be dead.

Kikiro cleared his throat, announcing his arrival.

"Stop," Hiei said. The dummy froze, then floated back to it's place on the wall and went limp. He sheathed his sword and walked over to Kikiro, looking directly into his eyes.

Kirkiro withheld a grimace of distaste at the fire apparition's audacity, but smirked instead. "It is time for a new mission."

Hiei lifted his eyebrows.

"Kill Yusuke Urameshi."


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter Five

Yukina had taken the news of Hiei's death very well, eh, well enough anyway. She collapsed onto the couch, choking back tears and clenching her fists so hard they drew blood. Kurama hugged her, biting his own lip. He could barely take the death of his friend, but seeing Yukina so torn hurt his heart. Yusuke averted his eyes, clenching his fists. Genkai walked into the other room. They could hear dishes clanking and water running. Then she walked back out with a tray full of mugs of tea.

"Thank you, Genkai." Yusuke whispered.

"Thank you."

"Thank you."

Kurama and Yukina took a mug. Genkai sat down and took one for herself.

"Do you know who did it?" Yukina asked.

Yusuke shook his head. "No, we only know it was a demon. One that Hiei could have beaten easily. It was a stupid mistake. He was….. overconfident."

Yukina sighed, wiping tears from her crimson eyes. "I don't believe it."

"But the weird thing is," Kurama added, "His ghost never passed through Spirit World. Botan never took his ghost."

Yusuke nodded, "Yeah, she said there wasn't one. Then some guy showed up and she passed out." He shrugged. "It's a mystery I tell you. But we'll figure it out."

Yukina nodded. "Does everyone else know?"

They nodded.

Kurama closed his eyes for a second. "Yukina, we have something else to tell you."

Yusuke locked eyes with Kurama and nodded.

"He was my brother, I know." The girl said softly.

The two boys stared at her, surprised.

Yukina went on. "I know he didn't want to know. He thought I would be ashamed about who he was, what he has done. But I couldn't be more proud." Fresh tears streamed down her face. "I often found myself wishing he was my brother, and I always felt a familiar sense when I was around him. But then I put two and two together. He would always glare at Kuzuma when he held my hand, or put his arms around me. And he was always watching me with a protective glint in his eyes. I just figured it out but I didn't tell him. He wouldn't have wanted me too. But now…." She sobbed against Kurama's shoulder.

"There, there." Kurama soothed.

They left an hour later, Genkai shooed them out, Yukina being wore out and needing rest from having taken a blow this big. They walked down the sidewalk, both lost in their own thoughts, when a familiar energy wavelength stopped them in their tracks.

They whirled around, seeing someone short in stature, wearing a long black cloak and sporting gravity-defying hair with a white starburst in the middle of his forehead.

"Hiei!" Yusuke cried, joy lighting his face. "Holy crap, man, we thought you were dead!"

"Hiei, how did you come back to life?" Kurama asked.

Hiei said nothing, merely stood there, eyes down.

"Uh…. Hiei?" Yusuke asked, taking a step back, "Are you okay?"

Kurama swallowed hard.

Hiei's hand drifted gracefully to his sword hilt, slowly gripping it. With lightning speed he drew his sword and bellowed a war cry. He raced at the two , brandishing the cold steel with deadly force.

"Hiei! Stop this madness!" Kurama yelled, jumping out of the way.

"WHOA!! Calm down shorty!" Yusuke cried.

That only mad Hiei madder. He bellowed again, charging with more force, more intensity.

"I'm sorry, my friend, but you leave us no choice!" Kurama pulled a rose out of his hair and brandished his whip. He lashed out, slicing through the air. Hiei dodged it easily. The fire apparition stabbed at Kurama, only to be blocked by Yusuke, who mowed Hiei over with a punch.

Hiei did a backflip, landed in a crouch and growled. Then he disappeared.

Yusuke and Kurama locked eyes before dashing off to find Koenma.

They burst through the door both yelling Koenma's name at the same time.

"Whoa! I didn't know I was this popular." Koenma said, spinning around in his chair.

"Cut the crap Koenma, we just saw Hiei!" Yusuke yelled.

"Not saw, got attacked by. He's alive, but he's attacking us." Kurama added.

Koenma stared at them for a second before bursting out in laughter. "Oh-oh-hahahahaha! You guys kill me! Now really, what happened? Who attacked you?"

"HIEI!" the two boys yelled.

"You're serious?" Koenma said, raising an eyebrow.

"Dead serious, Binkybreath!" Yusuke yelled.

Kurama nodded agreement.

"Well, this requires some investigation." Koenma jumped out of his chair and over to a button on the wall. He pressed it, then the TV screen came down out of the ceiling and the remote shot out of a slot in the wall. Koenma grabbed it and turned on the TV, leaping back into his chair. He pressed rewind and Yusuke and Kurama were on the TV, running backwards. They paused, and then Hiei reappeared. Their whole battle played again. Koenma played it and watched along with two of his Spirit Detectives.

"Hhmm, so it is Hiei." Koenma murmured. "Well, you already know what you have to do."

"Find him." Kurama said.

"Let's go bring home Hiei." Yusuke said with sigh.

Saya waited by the portal patiently as Kikiro told her two, fighting back the pain from his last beating. Two bruises marred her pale complexion, the ugly black, yellow and purple clashing against the icy paleness of her cheek and neck. More bruises and welts adorned her body, they were just hidden under her clothes. Her fingers twitched as she tried to mediate the memories away, pushing them down, locking them away in a safe place that she would never open again. The portal came to life, twisting the black and purple and red of the inter-dimension plasma. Hiei walked through, taking off his cloak. He looked around, and spotted Saya. He was slightly surprised she was there.

"Saya," Hiei said. She was sitting down, her hair falling over her face.

She got up silently, still keeping her head down. Hiei looked at her through the corner of his eyes suspiciously.

"I failed. There was someone else with him, someone with skill," he said softly.

"Kikiro will be mad," Saya whispered, a tremor to her voice.

"He won't be able to do anything, he needs you and I."

"That's never stopped him before." Saya looked up, her eyes floating to that customary place that stared just past Hiei.

Hiei said nothing as he stared at the ugly bruises on her face. His demon intuition and his sense of smell told him that other injuries were all over her body. His fingers twitched a bit, but his face held no emotion.

Saya swallowed and turned around. "Come, he will be wanting to know you're back."


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6 

Hiei watched the sleeping city with mild disinterest. This was his second try at assassination. Kikirko had gotten mad, really mad. But withheld it, telling Hiei was a shaky voice to try again tonight. There was a portal waiting with Saya by it in the park, it would close at midnight.

It was 11:30.

Kikiro seemed confident enough that Hiei could kill the detective in thirty minutes, and Hiei was feeling quite sure of himself. But little snippets of memory that included scenes of Yusuke fighting left him doubting his strength.

Putting that out of his mind he jumped from the top of the building onto the roof of the next one. Becoming a blur he dashed across the lighted city towards Yusuke's apartment building.

Saya sat in the large tree with her eyes closed in a completely relaxed position. The portal, glowing slightly with blue light, floated behind her, up further on the branch. It was out of the way and inconspicuous. In her mind she could see the pulsating black ball of energy that was Hiei moving and jumping around. He was in good health and his vitals were excellent. She could hear his breathing and feel the tensing of his muscles as he leaped nimbly from rooftop to rooftop. That steady rhythm was making her drowsy.

She slapped herself hard across the face, scaring herself. She opened her eyes (not that she could see anything, she's blind) and took a few deep breaths. She had to stay awake, for Hiei's sake, if not for her own.

11:40 had Hiei standing outside Yusuke's window staring at the sleeping boy. He was debating whether he would just crash through the window, or sneak inside the house. He decided upon the latter. That would give him a few more moments of secrecy and he wouldn't wake up the whole house.

He had just got the door unlocked when a fleetingly familiar voice rang out behind him.

'"Stop, Hiei."

He turned around. A young redhead with emerald eyes was staring at him, a rose was in his hand.

"Who are you?" Hiei asked, "And how to you know my name?" 

"Perfect," Kurama muttered. "Hiei, my name is Kurama, you know me."

"I don't associate with humans, nigen," Hiei sneered, "Now run along before I slice out your stomach."

Kurama grimaced. "I won't let you go into his house, Hiei. It would be best if you come with me."

Hiei glared. "I don't have to go anywhere."

The door opened behind him. "Hiei?" 

The fire demon looked over his shoulder. Yusuke Urameshi, teenage Spirit Detective was standing behind him.

"Hiei? Look, we don't want any trouble, just calm down and come with us," Yusuke said loudly.

"Shut up," Hiei said. He turned back to Kurama. "And you just ruined my mission." He glanced down at a clock. It was 11:50. With silent speed he drew his sword and whipped around, going down on one knee. The tip of his sword caught Yusuke on the shoulder and sliced at an angle down his chest.

Damn, Hiei thought. He had misjudged the length of his sword and how far Yusuke was and the gash was only an inch deep. Nothing even remotely life-threatening to him.

"Hiei!" Kurama yelled.

Hiei darted off. He heard Yusuke yell at Kurama to go after him and heard footsteps closing in. Hiei increased his speed, jumping onto a rail, vaulting to a window sill and flipping up to the rooftop. He glanced down and saw the boy called Kurama chasing him, still on the ground. With a growl Hiei ran even faster.

Saya was waiting anxiously at the portal. She knew Hiei had hurt Urameshi, but it wasn't very serious. How Hiei was running from someone who wasn't human, but wasn't demon either. The pursuer was a ball of green energy in Saya's mind, relentlessly dogging the black orb that was Hiei. Saya calmly sat down, meditating, unlocking her energy in case she was needed.

The energy of the portal was starting to fade. It only had a few more minutes before the portal closed and they'' be stuck here, in the Living World, until they were caught by the Spirit Detectives or Kikiro opened another portal. That would be bad.

In her mind a sliver of the green energy snaked out and wrapped around the black ball of Hiei's energy. Both stopped moving, then Hiei was pulled back by the connecting sliver. Saya gritted her teeth. This was bad! Every second Hiei was delayed was a second less they had to make it through the portal. She had to something, her own little power was good for _some_thing. Right?

Kurama's rose whip was wrapped around Hiei's wrists, binding them together. Hiei's sword was on the ground not an inch from his feet. He grimaced as he recounted his situation. It was embarrassing, a warrior of his caliber, being subdued in this manner. Hiei know Saya was in the tree, waiting for him. It should be almost midnight by now. Time was running out!

Then all of a sudden, the whip snapped right in the middle. Hiei didn't pause to question what happened, time was low as it is. He grabbed his sword and raced towards the treem where the dimming portal was waiting.

Saya breathed a sigh of relief when Hiei didn't stop to battle the boy. He was on his way, but she didn't think he would make it in time. The portal was all but gone. It had to be midnight already. She bit her lip. Hiei was coming, fast, but it wouldn't be fast enough. And she couldn't go through the portal without Hiei. Oh, Kikiro will be so mad!!

The white haired demon girl felt Hiei's energy on her skin as he came closer. But, just like that behind her, the portal closed on itself. Saya stood frozen. He didn't make it. They were stuck here, alone together.


End file.
